When Americans aren't busy praying for themselves or their own needs -- and most of them are -- many are seeking divine intervention on behalf of a favorite sports team or the golden ticket in the lottery, according to a new survey.

About 13 percent of Americans who pray say they pray for sports teams, compared with about one in five (21 percent) who say they have prayed to win the lottery, the new survey from LifeWay Research suggests.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday that public meetings can be opened with Christian prayers. As long as one does not denigrate another's faith or proselytize, such prayer is in keeping with long-standing tradition, the court ruled. I made my feelings clear in an earlier post, so I will not repeat what I said then.

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule on the constitutionality of prayer at public meetings. But a new survey finds U.S. voters clearly favor prayer -- as long as the public prayer is generic and not specifically Christian.

Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind survey asked about attitudes on high-profile cases before the court, including Greece v. Galloway. That case addresses whether elected officials can open public meetings with religiously specific prayers, such as praying in Jesus' name.

Carroll County is a small, rural county in northern Maryland. Its local board of commissioners has become news because of its insistence on starting board meetings with prayers to Jesus.

After a federal judge ordered the board to stick with nonsectarian prayers, some council members refused. The judge's order was twice defied in prayers uttered at the beginning of subsequent board meetings.